why did george lucas leave the mos espa sets in tunisia?

[HAL9000]

There's still lots of the pieces from 1976 in Tunisia. Some set dressing
is still at the sidi driss 'hotel'. Also, a friend was told by a local that
there was someone who had large pieces of the sandcrawler on his farm
to this day.

I wouldn't believe that Tunisia is completely safe - plenty of people have
had 'run-in's' with locals. best to travel with a guide and not look too touristy. also, I was told to always hire your own car and not rely on taxi's.

 

[Contec]

Maybe george "cleaned it" up with CG before leaving it.....

 

[darth_myeek]

best to travel with a guide and not look too touristy. .

so probably shouldn't wear this..

 

[swgeek]

That picture=lol:lol

That's what I wear every time I go to Europe.

 

[Jumpin Jax]

From Wiki:
The artificial skeleton used for A New Hope was left in the Tunisian desert after filming and still lies there. During filming of Attack of the Clones, the site was visited by the crew and the skeleton was still found there.

I know that some have claimed to have found tiny bits that they believe were from the skeleton, but are there actual pics of finding it in the same location after 20 years? Also, how much of it was left behind???
I ask only because I can't believe someone didn't retrieve it sooner.

Wow.. Swing and a miss, Wikipedia.
The skeleton was destroyed DECADES ago. It's been shrapnel for a long time, there are nothing but pieces left, there is no belief involved. It was made in 1964, bought or borrowed for SW, dumped in the desert, and has been suffering sandstorms and extreme heat and cold ever since. Toast. Thin fiberglass toast at that.
Most of the larger pieces found in the desert were supplied by local people that found the scraps and used them to build animal shelters or collected to sell to tourists. Local legend tells of German tourists that personally got hold of the skull and smashed it on a whim YEARS ago upon seeing it.
http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_item&item_id=47487
Most of this was collected after ep1 wrapped, and not at the site, but all over the area. At least 40 different parts have been sold over the years, several large bits.

 

[lonepigeon]

While I do agree with everything you said, this here...




doesn't really account for him going back to Tunisia for Tatooine as the desert in Yuma worked for him in ROTJ.

Again, just playing Devil's advocate here, as I still agree with your points.

Yuma worked for the Dune Sea because they needed sand dunes.
Tunisia was needed for all the rock formations and unique structures. It was also closer to the UK based production facilities.